Amtrak

I live in NYC & my boyfriend recently moved to Hartford, CT for work. I take Amtrak twice a week (round trip) usually costing me $75 average. It can sometimes be higher. So I give them $300+ a month! I had no issues with them besides the Tardiness of the train which happens OFTEN until today. I had booked a ticket in advance & something came up with work so I called and rescheduled & take note I paid the difference in fair! I have PROOF on my credit card statement. Today I go online to print the barcode and I couldn't find my reservation! Finally I found it! They never rescheduled my train! They took $20 from me but never changed my reservation..... NICE.... So I called and the agent transfered me to Guest Relations... I was on hold for NO LIE - 1 HOUR. Seriously? Everyone must be complaining cause of the LACK OF SERVICE. So I explain to the Rep my issue. She tells me my fare is gonna cost me $150 to reschedule... No way in hell did I agree to it. I pay enough every month and it ... Read more

We need to defund Amtrak and turn it over to a private vendor. Amtrak service is terrible, their systems are outdated, their employees are incompetent, management is corrupt and their customer service is non-existent. We pay good tax money for a terrible train system. Let's get rid of it. Call or write your lawmakers today!

I've done 4 long distance trips on Amtrak on 5 different trains, and so far the experience has been a relatively good one. The ride was comfortable, exciting, and a great way to see America's back-country. However there are a few things that you need to know before you go. The routes I've traveled on are the: -Auto Train -Capitol Limited -Cardinal -California Zephyr -Palmetto (x2) The Auto Train, The Capitol Limited, and the California Zephyr all use the double-decker Superliners cars. They're fairly easy to identify because they're FREAKING HUGE. These cars as a result seem to be a little top heavy so expect a little more rocking. Both the sleeper cars and the coach cars have seating on both levels. The Cardinal and the Palmetto use a mix of single level cars. For the coach and dinning cars they use the Amfleet II cars. These can be identified by the fact that they look like beer cans on wheels. They use the boxier Veiwliners for sleepers (on the Cardinal only. Palmetto is not an... Read more

ALWAYS LATE!!!

The first train stopped but did not open its doors and then it left. The second train opened its doors and a conductor said that it was not going to our destination. After the fact, we were told by customer service that he made a mistake. The next train was not until the following morning. Despite missing 2 trains, causing my son and his friends to arrive 1 day late on a holiday weekend, customer service told me that the complaint was not important enough for them to deal with it. I suppose there must be much worse problems at Amtrak. It is run like a state agency in a communist regime. I will never ever take Amtrak again.

0 stars (put your rating here! 1-5 Always late. Never on time. Does not own their own tracks and must rent from other suppliers. Trains are dirty, unkept and smell. Bathrooms never have toilet paper or soap. Drink cart is overpriced and understudied. Amazing a train can have more problems with an airplane. Use only when mandatory. Better off walking. Sent from iPhone 4.

The fare from New York City to Boston is nearly doubled the cost of taking a regular train so what do you get? (1) A savings of 30 minutes (2) Oversold trains which leave people standing and passengers forced to use the cafe car making it unusable for anyone who want to take a break and have bite in the care car. (3) An unassigned seat which means, if you did not department from the originating station, your family and friends will be separated. The conductors do not help to manage people -- they just want you on the train so the train can move. (4) The commuter train from CT was actually traveling faster than the Aleca! (5) When speeds are high you will experience the same turbulence on an airplane in a thunderstorm. (6) After 3 hours of a nearly 4 hour ride, the toilets stunk and not cleaned. (7) The WiFi is not reliable and hit's dead spots frequently. (8) There is no place to plug your PC! I admit I wanted the experience of Aleca but looking at back at today's e... Read more

The ride from HELL!! A friend and I were faced with a long car ride from florida to michigan after a 7 day cruise. My friend discovered that Amtrak has an auto train that will carry your car from florida to virginia cutting out about 17 hrs of our drive. First off, the cost was high for a roomette, 500 dollars, twice what we would have paid if we would have drove it. But the website said that you can travel in comfort and let them do the driving. So Saturday, Oct 31st, 2010, we arrived at amtrak with our tickets in hand. We were treated well by the staff, quick to load our car and direct us to a ticket counter. While at the ticket window, we were asked if we would like to upgrade to a family bedroom for 100 dollars more, or for 160 dollars, could upgrade to a large room with its own bathroom. we decided not to pay the upgrade, that amtraks website said that the roomette was a comfortable room for two. So off we were onto the train. The car attendant greeted us and directed us to ou... Read more

one star I'm adding my review 30 years late. We were about to book a trip from San Jose CA to Portland OR, but after seeing that over 95% of Amtrac reviews are "terrible," we opted to fly instead of taking what we thought might be an enjoyable scenic train ride. In about 1980 my family of two adults and two small children took a two-day train ride in hell traveling San Francisco to Chicago. The hot mid-summer trip included a roomette in a car that lost its air conditioning 2 hours after departure, toilets that didn't work and vented hot steam into the room (from God-knows where) when flushed, and nowhere to take refuge except a tobacco-smoke-filled standing-room- only club car. Repeated promises to repair or add another car to accommodate the victims never materialized. In the end we sued Amtrac in small claims court for a fare refund and won. I can see we assumed erroneously that after all this time and government support Amtrac had gotten its act together!... Read more

Amtrak has done what I thought was impossible: driven me back to airplanes for my business travel. I took the Acela express between Boston and New York for 4 months before Amtrak's disregard for customers and shoddy service made me vow never to get on an Amtrak train again. After ruining my labor day weekend plans with a suspension of all service to Boston on the Friday before a long weekend, I have continually been put off by their actions. Every teller window is staffed with a person who hates their customers and makes changing any travel a depressing experience. Tellers take breaks 10 minutes before trains are scheduled to depart, even when the line is full of people waiting anxiously to get on those trains. Amtrak employees cut the lines to bring wealthy people to the window ahead of people who were there long before they were. In addition, a general complaint: the overhead compartments make the sound of gun shots when closed, as do the tray tables and foot rests. The quiet ... Read more

My wife and I took the Crescent from Anniston, AL to New Orleans, LA in October 2010. We reserved a sleeper with handicapped facilties because my wife suffers from Parkinson's Disease. Boarding was very easy because of a portable wheelchair ramp at the station that raised my wife's wheelchair to the level of the entry door. Our room was clean, well furnished, and more than adequate even though it needed more assist bars.  We had a wonderful assistant who provided great service.  However, the trip was horrible!  When the train was traveling at speed, it lurched and swayed so badly that it was impossible for me to stand much less move around the compartment. My wife held on for dear life almost the entire trip.  We arrived in NO completely exhausted and vowing to never take Amtrac again.  We cancelled our return reservations and returned home by car - a far faster and more pleasant experience. I don't know if our experiences are typical for all Amtrac routes.  Was our miserable ride j... Read more

1 stars) Very bad trip Fullerton Ca to Boston via Chicago and return using the most expensive bedrooms. Shower Leaked and got carpet wet. Food mostly very Bad. Toilet plugged up and not fixed. Tracks so bad (rocking and rolling) could not use bath most of the time - to dangerous. Filthy luggage cars got luggage so dirty they had to be vacuumed before return to home and so did the car trunk. Linens and mattresses in bedroom dirty. Windows so dirty that even the scenery was blurred and taking pictures impossible. I will never travel Amtrak overnight again.

Very bad trip Fullerton Ca to Boston via Chicago and return using the most expensive bedrooms. Shower Leaked and got carpet wet. Food mostly very Bad. Toilet plugged up and not fixed. Tracks so bad (rocking and rolling) could not use bath most of the time - to dangerous. Filthy luggage cars got luggage so dirty they had to be vacuumed before return to home and so did the car trunk. Linens and mattresses in bedroom dirty. Windows so dirty that even the scenery was blurred and taking pictures impossible. I will never travel Amtrak overnight again.

On September 3rd, I experienced a horrible trip on Acela train #2158. Apparently a couple was allowed to board without tickets. They were very loud throughout the trip. Towards the end of the trip it was discovered by Amtrak employees that they did not pay for tickets. How were they able to board without a ticket? Why did it take so long for someone to notice they did not have a ticket? Why were they allowed to talk so loudly on a train? I would have moved my seat but my son and I had luggage in the overhead compartment that was difficult to move from one location to another. We never thought Amtrak would be so careless in allowing these things to occur. This brings up a bigger issue for me regarding Amtrak’s safety procedures if Amtrak is not capable of making sure everyone on the train has a ticket how can I be assured of other safety procedures?

Wow. Interesting reviews. I am in the middle of an Amtrak trip and so far I would have to say my experience has been pretty good. You can have a bad travel experience any where, any time, no matter who the carrier is...So far, I have traveled from Seattle to Chicago, Chicago to Washington, Washington to New York and I am now in Montreal...I would have to say all good travel experiences. This trip will take me from Montreal back to Chicago via Albany, NY, and Chicago to Los Angeles. I regret the last leg to Seattle will have to be on an airplane. So far the trains have been on time, comfortable, with reasonably good food and interesting people. I tend to avoid negative people or at least find them pretty pathetic. If contrasted with my recent air travel experiences, if I have the time, I would prefer the train in all cases. Reading these reviews, and the hyper critical nature of some of them I understand why you might have encountered a hostile crew member. I'm sure the other ... Read more

The Amtrak Website is great, I wish I could say the same for Amtrak it's self. We were depending on and looking forward to a Amtrak Trip. As we were traveling from Salem, Or. to Vancouver, BC. to take a Alaskan Cruise. Amtrak canceled all service in the region for 3 days due to neglected maintenance. Telling us at 3AM that our 5AM trip was canceled and it was up to us to get there. Our opinion of Amtrak is very low.

If there was a way to apply negative stars, this would have sealed the deal. I sent my daughter and her father on a train from Syracuse, NY to Chicago and to begin with the train eneded being 4 hrs and 40 mins. late, which cost us and additional 240 to change our plane tickets around because the train was late and they couldn't make it on time. The station was filthy, toilets looked like they had not been cleaned in weeks, trash cans over flowing, and tables covered in sticky soda and trash. My daughter is 6 and the train was suppose to leave at about 9:30p.m., we ended up holding her in our arms as she fell asleep because the train didn't get there until just after 1 a.m. Absolutely horrible......I will never be riding a train or sending anyone on a train ever again. This was all of our first experience with a train....and now because of Amtrak, our last.

If there was a minus 5 star rating, Amtrak would deserve it! Like typical post office mentality and lazy malfunctioning government workers, Amtrak staff are lazy, incompetent, and rude. Our first time experience with Amtrak has left us with a very bad taste in the mouth. Here's why: 1. Amtrak lost our luggage on our trip from Sacramento to Los Angeles Union station. 2. Amtrak made an "error" in our tickets that caused us a long delay at the station. 3. On-board food service was unprofessional, rude, and ineffective. 4. The conductor was more interested in satisfying her ego than the customers. 5. The bus ride from Bakersfield to LA (no train service available) was interrupted by "mechanical failures". Our bus was idling in the heat near Gorman waiting for some technicians coming from Bakersfield. The delay was about an hour! It's a real shame that Amtrak is subsided by taxpayers but the image of Amtrak is a disgrace to American pride compared to European train systems. Perhaps Am... Read more

This review is about Amtrak service on the Pacific Surliner, Coast Starlight, and Sunset Limited/Texas Eagle from L.A. Union Station. FIRST, UNION STATION. This place should be a tourist's dream. The L.A. Redvelopment Agency & others have refreshed its Mission-Art Deco style, and most of the station areas are open at least to see. Don't forget to look up and check out the refurbished ceiling! The same old, massive chairs that were there in the 1930's (so I hear) invite waiting passengers. There is one good restaurtant at the station, named "Traxx." They serve really good food at really good food prices. There is also a bar apparently operated by the same folks. The service at both restaurant and bar is usually very freindly, and the bar tender will remember you if you come back! (WOW!!) There is also a bagel place and a newstand, which are just ordinary and often crowded. I use this station for my daily commutes, and I never cease to be just a little excited by walking alon... Read more

Amtrak has been having terrible service for me now in California. On the East Coast it is a bit better but still. There are other people there that would complain. In San Francisco when the bridge was out they wouldn't check my baggage so I had to bring it with me by the BART. They said I could check it along the way but when I got there they tried to refuse. I had a disagreement with the clerks. He had been looking at his cell phone and didn't want to do anything. They had assured me I would have time. I would have if they had done it. I finally got the manager who barely did anything but had it checked. Then I missed it. She acted as if it was my fault and I wanted to stay there. You are taken advantage of. When I got to LA there was another baggage issue of overpricing. He tried to charge an extra fee. I showed him it was not on the information printed. The other clerk let me take the bag without the extra. When I went to customer service there was a clerk though bilingual of course... Read more

Amtrak is very punctual now, at least on the Coast Starlight route! Food is of good quality and portions are generous. The scenery (mountains, trees, rivers, rocky out-croppings) afford riders lots to look at, especially in the areas furthest from the major cities. One thing they really need to change is the time-frame when meals are served. The spread over 2 1/2 hours is far too long. They should have seatings for breakfast, no earlier than 6:30 and lunch and dinner should be spread over (for lunch) 11:15 - 1PM; dinner from 5:30 - 7PM. When I boarded the train in Portland on the south-bound direction they were still announcing lunch as late as 2PM!

My wife & I recently purchased a sleeping car from Chicago to Atlantic City for May, 2010. The following day we tried to return them as our plans had changed. The agent charged us one hundred dollars to return them. We told him the agent that we had bought them from instructed us that we would be charged this fee if we had returned the tickets one prior to departure. Well, not even 24 hours later did we try this, yet was told by another agent something else. We tried calling customer service without any success. Amtrak sucks!

February 15th 2010, My wife and I just returned on our first train ride on Amtrak from Denver to Grand Junction Colorado. If you have the time this is simply the way to travel. Beautiful views that you would never see from the interstate or air. The staff was rather polite and helpful. Would recommend to do it atleast once if not more.

I will just post the letter I wrote to Amtrak on their website, they said they would respond within 24 hours and its been about that and no suprise here, no response. This is pretty much in a nutshell how HORRIBLE the Amtrak is. To Whom It May Concern: I traveled from Grand Rapids MI to McCook NE on the 3rd to the 4th of February. It was the WORST travel experience I have EVER had. The employees were rude, not helpful at all. I was traveling with my mother who suffers from brain aneurysms, I had about 6 bags of luggage, and when we transferred in Chicago, your employees 1) were rude to my mother, acting as if she was taking too long to get off the train (she can barely walk by herself),2) were NO help whatsoever with my luggage, there was an employee standing at the train door not doing anything, but watching me struggle to get my mom off the train and get my luggage off. Then I put one suitcase on the luggage carrier, and the guy just took off. So I had to load my luggage on to ano... Read more

I received unnecessarily rude and aggressive treatment from the train operators aboard the train from Boston to New York on January 12th 2010 leaving South Station at 6:45pm. I was settled in sitting on the left of the train and was using my laptop computer. When I tried to plug my power adapter into the sockets next to my seat, I discovered that none of the outlets on the left hand side in my car were functioning correctly. I therefore carefully ran a wire across the car to the outlets on the right hand side. I was careful to ensure that the wire was flat with the ground, and not a hazard. The train attendant soon stopped over and told me that this was a safety hazard and that I would have to move to the other side of the train. I had no problem with this, and began to gather my belongings to shift sides. However, I was treated in a rude and abrasive manner by the attendant and his colleague. They told me no fewer than 6 times in quick succession that I should cross to the other side... Read more

Don't ever, ever do it unless you are prepared to pay exhorbitant rates for a sleeper car room. Coach seats are hard and uncomfortable, people who made the mistake of believing Amtrak that you can sleep in those torture racks can be found all over the train looking for a place to curl up and sleep, the whole train looks and smells like the underside of a highway overpass for the homeless, the toilets are dirty and fill up in coach after about 24 hours leaving you with nothing, and the whole thing gives you the impression that you are riding on a rural bus in a third world country except for the lack of chickens and pigs in the passenger compartment, even though after about a day it smells like they are there.

I rode Amtrak from Kansas City to Houston a few years ago. On my return trip I arrived at the Oklahoma City train station at closing time (9-10pm). The Amtrak official kicked me out of the building, telling me I would have to wait on the curb outside for a bus that would come and take me the rest of the way. She then proceeded to unlock her car door and get in to go home. I asked her if she could wait until the bus arrived as I was traveling alone and was unfamiliar with Oklahoma City. She said no. I asked her what I was supposed to do if the bus did not show up, and told her I was uncomfortable being abandoned in downtown Oklahoma City late at night outside a deserted Amtrak station. She said "We have yet to come back in the morning and find the bones of a dead Amtrak customer on our steps. You'll be fine". She then got in her car and left. The street I was deserted on was dark as several of the lights in front of the train station were burned out and there was no one arou... Read more

Always seems to be late. I take it between NYC and Wilmington. It's really expensive and it's slow. Chinatown bus costs 1/5 the cost and only takes 30 min more. The only plus is it's farely comfortable if you get a seat. Sometimes during rush hour it's hard to find a seat

We boarded in Tucson (Oct 3, 2009), with a roomette. For the 38 hour trip to New Orleans, the communal bathroom was NEVER cleaned. It quickly became DISCUSTING! The roomette seemed filthy at best. The dining room was well run but rather regimented. You will be seated with strangers. The food was better than expected, and included with the roomette. Traveling in a seat it is not, and it is very pricey. The portions were huge and mosty wasted. I'd prefer a normal serving size with a lower price. After a layover in New Orleans, we boarded again to Memphis. Just a coach this time. Plenty of leg room, quite comfortable. However this crew was TOTALLY incompetent. The dining car was in chaos and it took more than an hour to be served, additional time to snag some silverware. Overall, I would sum our experience as dismal and FILTHY.

I MADE A ROUND TRIP.FROM LONGVIEW TEXAS TO ST.LOUIS MO.ON THE WAY BACK FROM ST.LOUIS AROUND 3AM IN THE MORNING.WE STARTED SMELLING SMOKE.THE CONDUCTOR CAME ON THE P.A. AND SAID THERE WAS BRAKES ON ONE OF THE CARS CAUGHT FIRE.AND THAT WE SHOULD GO TO THE OBSERVATION CAR.TELL THE VENTILATION SYSTEM REMOVED THE SMOKE.WHEN WE ARRIVED IN LONGVIEW THE CREW OF THE TRAIN TOLD US TO CONTACT CUSTOMER RELATIONS.SO I CALLED.AND TOLD THEM WHAT HAPPEN.THEY VERIFIED.WHAT HAD HAPPEN.SO THEY ARE GOING TO CREDIT ME WHAT THE TRIP COST ME.AND THAT I HAVE ONE YEAR FROM NOW.TO TAKE A TRIP ON THEM.THEY WHERE VERY UNDERSTANDING.SO IM LOOKING FORWARD TO ANOTHER TRAIN TRIP.WITH AMTRAK.

My rating - zero stars, even less than what is allowed through this review system. My family and I rode the Coast Starlight from Seattle to Portland round trip. We were in a family room both ways. The room had been unattended both ways, evidenced by pet odors, white substance in the seat cushions, and shorts and t-shirt found on the floor of the in-room closet. The halls of the train smelled horribly of unattended lavoratory. The meals options were very limited, and what was available was mediocre at best. I felt imposed upon by the waitstaff when two of my family members had elected to take dinner in the room, and the two of us whom had elected to eat in the dinning car were required to eat at a booth with two strangers (because our party consisted of fewer than four individuals). There were plenty of open booths, but we weren't allowed to use one. I refused to eat with the strangers and turned on my heel after requesting in room dining service. The family car attendants a... Read more

We Loved It. In August of ‘09, my wife and I took a cross country trip on Amtrak and loved every minute. I know that on this site, there are countless whiners about Amtrak, but I look forward to another round trip on the rails. I do need to point out that we took a sleeper, not coach which is where the majority of the complaints seem to originate. You might as well take a bus trip as ride coach class on the train ... but the sleepers are extraordinary. The first short leg of our trip was in coach, so I can compare the two. Our trip began in Rochester, NY, had a change in Chicago and then on to San Francisco. There was a bit of a layover in Chicago, but their lounge for sleeper customers is more than comfortable and offers complementary beverages, snacks, newspapers and Wi-Fi. Depending upon the length of your layover, you can venture up to the street level of Union Station to shop or enjoy a great meal in any of several restaurants. There are plenty of station and lounge attendants ... Read more

How can I start? First of all DON"T EVER RIDE AMTRAK. AND MOST OF ALL DOn"T USE THE INTERNET PAYMENT EXPECTING YOU CAN GET A REFUND. JUST IMAGINE YOU CAN"T TRAVEL AND COURTEOUSLY CALL TO CANCEL THE RESERVATION: THE customer service rep says: no problem thanks for calling to cancel yoru reservation. Just drop the tickets to us in the mail and within ten days you'll get a refund onto your card. If not give us a call. One call to check in turned into 15 calls: all with different answers to when I'd get a refund. from Any day now to 3-4 months no rep was able to read anything from either the webiste or their "training mmaterials to qualify a policy. "We can't transfer you to a supervisor they are for administrative purposes only." Having worked in phone centers I know what that means" avoidance and scamming! I sent multiple e-mails, made multiple phone calls and out of all of them only two reps admitted they had no policy and it was very unfair. Only after I posted warnings on consume... Read more

So I have always heard of great things from my wife about her trips on the train. So we have a family vacation planned and it begins with taking the train up to Disneyland. So plans change and we decided to have my sister in law pick us up by her house in Irvine and go to Disneyland the following day. No big deal right just need to change the destination of the city we are arriving in. So i go down the the Amtrak station and explain to the lady what I need to do. Shes says no problem there will be an increase in the ticket price. The total increase......a big woppin 9 bucks ! No problem I pay it and go on my merry way. So a couple days later Im balancing my check book and I noticed a charge of $165.00 bucks. Well it seems that Amtrak charges the full amount of the tickets and then sends you a credit later to your account. Now this seems a bit odd to me that a simple credit cannot be done in there system and then a balance be charge. So now Im stuck with no credit and $350.00 in overdra... Read more

I have just had one of my most unpleased travel experiences and I have traveled all over the world. I always thought a wonderful way to see the country would be from an Amtrak cross country sleeper car. On Friday afternoon I set out on a cross country trek from Washington DC to San Diego California, by Amtrak train. The trip from Washington DC to Los Angeles was by Amtrak sleeper car. I was going to spend 3 nights in an Amtrak sleeper car. One night from DC to Chicago, change trains in Chicago for a two night trip to Los Angeles. Change train in Los Angeles for a 2.5 hour train ride to San Diego. The trip from DC to Chicago was uneventful. The bulk of the traveling was done at night so I was a little disappointed about not seeing lots of scenery. The upper bunk did NOT have a window so my images of falling asleep while the landscape passed were thwarted. We arrived in Chicago Saturday morning with a 6 hour layover before boarding the Southwest Chief for Los Angeles. After si... Read more

Amtrak is the best! A 3 day rolling party/live music festival that I wished would never end. I'm always so thrilled when I hear that there is going to be a delay! The best and most relaxing and FUN way to get across the country....Thanks Miss Kennedy, for your excellent cocktail wizardry! The journey is the destination!

Amtrak: too expensive for what it offers. I wonder why it isn't bankrupt by now. I paid 100 $ for 3/4 of the distance from Boston to NYC. THe train arrived late 30' and there was track work on the way. On Friday night! Why isn't the work done at noon on a weekday when there's no one traveling? The train staff are nice, though. The Fung Wah bus is $15 and MUCH better. I took that bus at least 10 times and it's on time, they stop for food etc. I am Eastern European.

we recently took an amtrak train from cleveland to chicago. Seven hours of hell on earth. I would have rather been on the Titanic. at least then i would have been comfortable before i died. I swear i died on the freaking train. my soul left my body because it couldn't stand it any longer. Amtrak is the worst means of transportation ever. the guy sitting next to me was on the run from the law i think. he stunk like a trash can. and the noise, jeez-o-man. I learned my lesson the hard way. from now on it is airline for me. a little extra dough up front makes the trip a lot more enjoyable on the back end.

I was charged a horrendous $15 so-called refund fee when I had to return a ticket because of Amtrak's own fault: the first Amtrak train I took was an hour late so I missed the connection train. An Amtrak employee said, "I understand your situation, but I still have to charge you for the refund." He tried to convince me that I should just keep that ticket and travel with Amtrak again because I could only get $4.50 back after he deducted the fee from the refund. Not a chance. I would not take Amtrak again. Although the train was an hour late, the crew members didn't even try to pretend that they were willing to help the passengers who had missed their connection trains due to the delay. In fact, they pretended nothing had happened. There was no announcements, no advices, no hints regarding what to do if one missed the next train. If you are not an experienced traveler and do not know how to survive Amtrak's poor, almost non-existant service, you are on your own.

Amtrak could be used as an effective alternative to Water-boarding by the CIA My wife and I took the Lake Shore Limited from Pennsylvania to New York City in late June 2009. Limited is a much to positive term to use in describing this mess. Our trip took almost 14 hours to reach the city. During that time all but one restroom on the train failed, an airhose broke and needed to be replaced and almost all the train staff remained as stoic and unhelpful as your average DMV worker. The restroom problem was blamed on paper towels that were put in the commodes. The towel dispensers coughed up hands full of tri-fold towels when only one or two were needed and the waste recpticles were soon full. The toilets were the only logical place to dispose of the towels. The crew made no attempt to fix the problems they just locked the doors. The last remaining restroom was a real mess by the end of the trip. Amtrak could improve their financial situation by simply selling Immodium in the caf'e car for... Read more

Avoid at all costs. Take regional Trains, drive, fly, inconvience yourself to avoid taking amtrak. Truley the worst I have been treated by anyone in a customer service role. We were stopped for two hours with no communication and when I asked if they could let us know How long it would take the man swore at me, mocked me, and got so close to my face yelling at me I was terrified. He was 200 lbs and I am a small 100 lb female! Amtrak didn't seem to concerned about the delay or the harrasmenet even when myself and multiple witnesses disucssued it with them. If you want to get from point a to b ontime, or atleast know what time you'll arrive, don't take amtrak. You'll overpay to be verbally abused by an incomptent staff and a Company that could care less about their customers

Awful in many ways though it still beats driving, especially if you're going into a major city where a car would be a nuisance. The service, though, is terrible, at least on the Crescent between New Orleans and DC. We rarely saw the attendant in our "1st class" car after we were shown our room. He never mentioned the fact that there is a shower on the car, a feature my son later discovered later on his own. The attendant was not around to help us with our beds, though we managed to figure this out. The door was broken, and the thermostat was not functional, but the attendant was nowhere to be found so we just lived with these things. On the way back the door of our compartment worked but the toilet would not flush. Again, no attendant, so we just managed. Service in the dining car was somewhat better since I guess there's no place for the staff there to hide. They worked hard, though I would have been unhappy if I had been served this meal in a restaurant; undoubtedly it was all prep... Read more

AMTRAK is a (usually) quick and fast way to get from point A to point B -- well.. it's faster than the bus and runs even when there is snow on the ground (unlike planes, who usually get grounded). It's usually quiet (and I like the idea of the Quiet Car too) and efficient. But after riding it for more than 38 years, I have a few gripes -- and this stuff I mention constantly happens, so here goes: OK-- first of all, AMTRAK-- WHY does it cost MUCH less to book a trip a few weeks in advance and SO MUCH MORE to book a few days in advance? This is highway robbery! Fares should remain the same, no matter what the time of year or how far in advance you book. Second- CLEAN YOUR RESTROOMS!! Man do they stink!! I usually rush to use the restroom in the train when I get on at the originating station, so the bathroom is usually pretty clean then -- but it sure stinks after a while -- as bad as some of those Greyhound bathrooms. I try to hold it in until we reach the destination -- if I don't dri... Read more

Well, I have had a number of experiences on Amtrak, and all have been quite enjoyable. I am going to share with you a few stories about not-s-enjoyable, but in hindsight funny, experiences with Amtrak. Bear in mind that this has been on 6 separate trips on Amtrak, so i would say its pretty good. The first happened on my second trip with Amtrak, something like 6 years ago on the California Zephyr. At about 7:30 AM, as the train was passing through Lincoln, NE, eastbound toward Chicago, we were eating breakfast. Suddenly, the train just stopped. We remained that way for several hours, with no explanation. Turns out, a driver had been looking through a file box and trying to drive at the same time. He did not see the train and his pickup truck struck the side of the second engine at a level crossing (he ended up surviving. The file box in his lap actually saved his life; it lessened the impact against the steering column [no airbags]). The reason we did not hear any announcements was tha... Read more

My husband and I just returned from a trip to Arizona on the Sunset Limited. We boarded in New Orleans and had a roomette. They are small, but adequate for two people. An obese person might have difficulty. Our trip out was fine, other than arriving a couple of hours late in Lordsburg, NM. There is no station there, so you get off and wait to board at the side of the tracks--it's night and dark. On our return, the train status toll free number gave us completely false information, over and over, stating the train was delayed by nearly 2 hours into Lordsburg. I finally talked with a human who verified that. My husband didn't believe it, so we went on down to the tracks about 10 minutes after the scheduled arrival and waited two hours. After numerous phone calls, one in which we were assured we hadn't missed the train and it was on the way to us--we finally got someone who admitted that we had indeed missed the train. It was on time. We were booked on the next train, two days l... Read more

was wondering if anyone has taken amtrak from Raleigh nc to orlando fl lately and how was the trip? Thanks, Liz

I gave 1 star because of my horrible experiences with abusive and rude conductor who insulted me. No matter how clean or nice the train is, as long as there is no procedure to protect customers from getting insulted from the conductors, I will try to avoid using Amtrak at all cost. On September 13,2008 , I took the train no. 169 - From Boston Bak Bay 6.45 pm to New York Penn Station. My seat was in the second car after the cafe car. I had one 12 x 19 inches luggage. I'm a woman and the luggage was too heavy for me to lift and put in the compartment above my head. However, it fits the space underneath my seat perfectly. Every time I travelled by Amtrak ,I usually put it underneath my seat and never had any problem. I made sure my luggage didn't take the space underneath the seat of the seat next to me too. I had 2 shopping bags, and put them on the floor in front of my feet ( they don't take the space of the seat next to me at all ). There was nobody sitting next to me, an... Read more

I'm giving Amtak 1 star only because of the fare price. Otherwise they would get no stars! To start with there is no service in ID. I had to travel by Greyhound to Salt Lake City. And of course they couldn't schedule a bus to arrive close to the departure time. I had to reserve a motel room for the 10 hrs I would have to wait for my connection. I arrived at the station by 3:30 am for my 4:30 departure time. That went rather smoothly, at that hr the station master was relatively friendly. I didn't know it then but that would be the last friendly employee I would meet. The conductors and other personnel on the Ca Zephyr were rude and curt. The only passengers that were treated with anything resembling courtesy were the handicapped. And I wouldn't rate that as really friendly. My grandson & I were assigned seats and then ignored. I had traveled by train as a child (remember the Wabash Cannonball? Wonderful memories). This trip was nothing like that. While there was lots of leg room and ov... Read more

One word to sum up my trip on Amtrak: NIGHTMARE! I was interested in saving money to travel from Iowa to Colorado. I found a great deal, or so I thought, by purchasing a ticket for a train ride with Amtrak. On July 13, 2008, I boarded the train in Osceola, Iowa--which was 1.5 hours late. They had to wait for 2 freight trains to pass by. You see, Amtrak doesn't own their any rail lines--they are at the mercy of the freight trains and have to move over when needed--thus slowing up the Amtrak lines. I had a great time in Denver, but when it was time to head home, it was a mess!! My train was supposed to depart Friday evening, July 18, 2008 at 8:10 pm. I was notified by an Amtrak Rep. that it was over 4 hours late, so our new departure time was 12:30 am--Saturday. I checked the internet around 11 pm that night and it had been even further delayed until 1:30 am. My friend dropped me off at Union Station in Denver around 1 am. At 1:15 we were notified that it wouldn't be u... Read more

My wife and I took the Empire Builder from Chicago to Seattle and back. Although we ran into some major delays on the return trip due to the flooding in Wisconsin, the entire trip was very enjoyable. The staff was very friendly and helpful. They apologized for being 5 minutes late getting to Seattle because normally they get there early! Try getting that service on the airlines! We did not have to shove our luggage through a scanner, take off our shoes or otherwise be treated like an inmate in a prison like you are treated at the airport. Although the sleeper cars are a bit pricey, I figured that driving with motels would be more expensive (and tiring). For the sleeper (first class passengers) there was a wine and cheese testing session on part of the trip. The scenery was spectacular from the train windows and there were National Park volunteers explaining some the sights we passed through. I hope AMTRAK service can be expanded and improved and I hope Congress is listening. ... Read more